{SQT} Head Exploding From All the Awesomeness

Reunited and it feel so good! Oh, I’ve missed you all; my readers, my Facebook friends, my followers on Instagram and Twitter. It is like coming out of the desert to face a table laid with a bounty of gossip, current affairs, friendly banter, perfectly filtered pictures and spam. For almost two weeks I was forced to make decisions without crowd sourcing and communicate via email. EMAIL! Like it’s 2002 or something.

And what is that I hear? Could it be the sound of millions of jaws across the Catholic blogosphere hitting the floor as I take over Seven Quick Takes? We really tried to ease y’all into it to lessen the shock. Don’t worry, you can still visit Jen on the weekends and every other Tuesday, plus alternate holidays.

Please, don’t think of me as the evil stepmother. I know I can’t live up to the Jennifer Fulwiler; and I don’t want you to call me mini-Jen…unless you want to, in which case I guess it’s okay. Honestly, I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted and when J-Ful (I can call her that because we’re tight) asks you to do something, you query your Facebook friends and then say yes!

I want to be friends, and I think if we both put in a little effort, we might really learn to like one another. Now let’s get things started with a rambling list of all the things I’ve been doing since I couldn’t be on social media!!! (C’mon, you said you’d try.)

1. I WROTE A BOOK.

At some point a few months back, as I reflected on my New Year’s resolutions, I realized I’d probably never get a book written this year. I couldn’t sit and write fiction and frankly, unless a publisher approached me and said, “Hey, write a book about THIS!” I really couldn’t think where to start. AND THEN, I just decided to create the perfect planner for myself, write a weekly entry for all 52 weeks and, viola, BOOK! A real book, not like any of the other booksI pretended to write.

Tony came up with the name, ‘The Best Laid Plans’ and it’s 70 percent new material, with the remainder coming from that first year of blogging when I had four subscribers. It’s perfect for the person who wants to feel more organized without having to actually make any life changes. You can purchase a printed copy or download and print as many as you want. 8.5″x 11″ printed planners are $16 and pdf downloads are $8 until December 31st. But due to shipping times, you need to order by December 11th for the best Christmas delivery rates. Order by December 19th if you feel like paying someone from Lulu.com to ride out to your house on a moped, in a Santa suit. (Seriously, overnight fees are ridiculous.) Obviously, this won’t be the last you’ll hear about “The Best Laid Plans” but at least I won’t tease you about it for five years before delivering something, right??!?! Totally kidding Mrs. Fulwiler.

Click on the cover to check out a 15 page sample on Lulu.com!

2. My working title was actually “The Plan” but that sounded too John Grisham. “This is the plan and you’re going to follow it or die an unfortunate and untimely death.” I was describing my style to Addie and she came up with “Fun-spirational”. While I didn’t use that as my title, I’m pretty sure if I use that term to start a line of fertility monitors, I’d hit solid gold.

3. I was sad to not be able to share all of Byron’s comic prowess within minutes of it taking place. Notable antics included his impersonation of Sam Smith (which resembles the air being let out of a tire, vocally and physically) and his attempt to answer his math questions in all Roman numerals. I blame this on the stockpile of Calvin and Hobbes and Foxtrot comics at my parents house that he spent three days re-reading over Thanksgiving.

4. I was checking the statistics on one of my ad networks (because even without Facebook I can find ways to distract myself) and I noticed a graphic at the bottom that listed my blogs “audience.”

According to this, a lot of young, affluent, yet not college educated, childless white men are reading my blog. Hi guys! Any of you shopping for a sister, fiance or mom in need of a planner?

5. Re-reading, and realizing that all the things I jotted down in the last couple weeks to share really weren’t that interesting after all. My whole online social life is a sham.

6. I rediscovered this song recently and much happy, awkward dancing has commenced.T-shirt spinning? Perhaps.

7. Hey, I wrote a book! Howsabout a giveaway!?! One copy of my new planner “The Best Laid Plans” in your choice of either a pdf download or printed copy is up for grabs! And just in time for Christmas!

The rafflecopter giveaway has ended.

And now it’s time to join the party and link up below, just as you’ll be doing every Friday from here forwards. We’ll settle into new routines and establish new insider jokes and lingo. Just because you’ve been hanging at Jen’s since November 14, 2008 when she hosted her first Quick Takes link upusing something called “Mr. Linky’s Magical Widgets” (kids, cover your eyes!) doesn’t mean we can’t make this relationship work. I can’t wait to use up all my new free time reading your posts!! Just make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your post and not your main blog URL, and include a link back here… not Conversion Diary, but here. I’m Kelly, not Jen. You’re here now, and it’s okay.

I currently use a plain spiral notebook as my to do list. It’s not working out and I plan to break up with it over the Christmas holiday. Your planner is clearly the rebound I need, maybe it could be something more. (Did that come out as a compliment? It’s supposed to a compliment.)

Congrats on the new book and congrats on your new power as the 7QT host. I’m always looking for new planner ideas. I need something simple and I love extra white space for adding notes, so this might actually be a god one for me. I try keeping to-do lists on my iPod and it just doesn’t work for me. Your planner may be a good 2015 resolution for me. Hmmmm … Stay more organized with Kelly’s new planner. Sounds like a plan to me!

It’s my first time here, and I really enjoy it! I tried to go digital with my planner, and I’m successful with putting things in there, but not so successful with checking back for what I’m supposed to do or where I’m supposed to be! I need to go back to paper, so it’s always in front of my face!

Not going to lie, it’s strange to think of anyone but Jen hosting the link up, but strange is not bad! Thanks for taking up the torch, I’m looking forward to joining in over here on those special days where I get my butt in gear to participate in time.

I absolutely remember that song AND Petey Pablo’s cameo in Drumline. #throwback

And aren’t you glad for a non-planner-petitioning comment? I was going to say “I don’t need a planner,” but that sounds arrogant and like a wish to have all my carefully laid out systems (referenced in my post) fall to shambles. I don’t believe in karma (see also “Catholicism”), but if I did, that would be asking for the bad kind.

I stumbled across your blog and couldn’t stop laughing when I read your post. Seriously, your what my senior citizen self refers to as ‘a kick in the pants!’ Congrats on the book! How awesome! Linking up for the first time and now im off to find out how to follow you. 🙂

According to this, a lot of young, affluent, yet not college educated, childless white men are reading my blog. Hi guys! Any of you shopping for a sister, fiance or mom in need of a planner?

Lol! Those guys must be really shy. Because both Adam Crawford and I are married with children.

And, no, I’m not shopping for a planner. I don’t think my wife would want something that will force here to keep a record everything she has failed to do. I kind of like Jen’s plan, actually.

So I asked Fr. Langford: What did Mother Teresa do when it seemed that there was more work than she could possibly handle?
His response was simple and wise, and it marked a turning point in my life. In his reply to my email, he wrote:

The [work she could not get to] she did not think twice about, nor should you or I, since God is not asking you to do what He does not give you the time (or health, or resources) to do. So be at peace.

Now that I’ve ruined your chances of selling anymore planners, maybe you should consider if these guys are single and looking for a nice Catholic girl? You could start a dating service.

Welcome!

Hey, I'm Kelly! Thanks for stopping by! Here's where I write about life as a Catholic wife, mom, homeschooler and special needs parent, usually with a sense of humor. If it looks like I have it all together, you probably haven't been here long!